Trump's CounterTerrorism Chief Resigns, Calls Iran War a Lie

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podcast for the threats you can't control term supply. Some beautiful bastards welcome back to the

Philip DeFranco show you daily dive into the news. It is Tuesday and there is a lot to talk about

but I just want to start on a light note saying I'm just so happy to be home. Yesterday most of you

saw because you were like oh my god Phil has legs. I was stuck in Austin Texas because I think like

12 and a half thousand flights got canceled because in addition to the situation where you have TSA

employees working without getting paid or you know they're calling out and working other jobs.

There were also just major storms where I was like hey we'd love to fly to Atlanta but there

may be a bunch of tornadoes. Luckily we got show done security cleared up by the time I wanted to go

through. I figured out some flights. I got the last seed out of Panama City Florida and so I got

to cuddle with my wife last night and see my boys this morning so I'm in a great mood. It's just

kind of the cherry on top of what was actually a good 24 hour Austin trip went out there was

nominated and then actually won boom the indie pack award for best independent news and politics.

This is taking it home over some some friends of the show as well as a fuck face Matt Walsh.

So a quick but also big thank you to my team across all the places and a big thank you to all

you beautiful bastards especially those of you who've been with me since the webcam days like you

supported and and funded my show before anyone really even took it serious but with that said

there's a lot we need to talk about today starting with this. Israel claims to have killed

Iran's de facto leader also Trump's claiming he doesn't need NATO's help even though he just

asked for it and an intelligence official that he appointed has now resigned over his opposition

to the Iran war which he claimed came about thanks to pressure from Israel and its powerful

American lobby. But where we'll start is with this latest Israeli assassination in Iran where

the military claimed to have killed Iranian national security chief Ali LaRijani as well as

besiege commander holamrez salamani with Israel's defense ministers saying in a statement

LaRijani and the besiege commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation

program referring to the previous supreme leader and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil

in the depths of hell. And as far as who these people are the besiege it's a volunteer paramilitary

force affiliated with the Iran's Islamic revolutionary guard corps that has been repeatedly

targeted by US and Israeli strikes over the course of this war. And a key reason being the role

that it played in suppressing dissent in the country including by taking part in several brutal

protests crackdowns that it killed thousands over the years. And with that salamani he's long

been under US and European sanctions for his involvement. Although notably LaRijani he's believed

to have played an even bigger part in the extraordinarily violent handling of the nationwide

protests earlier this year. And actually since then he had effectively been running the countries

side-lining even the president according to the New York Times. And in addition to keeping a

lid on dissent he's been a key liaison with Iran's allies including Russia as well as regional

actors like Qatar and Oman. But even over saw nuclear negotiations with the United States and

as a trusted confidant of the Supreme Leader he was among a select group of officials tasked with

devising a plan to ensure that the regime would survive if the Supreme Leader were assassinated.

But then with all that LaRijani he had also been seen as one of the more pragmatic voices inside

of the regime. Right way back in 2015 he played a key role in securing approval for the nuclear

deal negotiated under Obama. Which then of course strumped with Drew the United States drum in 2018.

And though it stands it hardened after the Trump administration broke off talks with Iran to

take military action last June he seemingly remained open to some sort of agreement.

Last month for example when talks were back underway in Oman he described his country's position

as positive. With the arguing that the US had realized that the military option wasn't viable in

saying resorting to negotiation as a rational path. Though also with that he accused Israel of

trying to sabotage the diplomatic track to ignite a war. So some have argued well he was proven

right. So after talks again collapse following the US and Israeli attack, LaRijani struck maybe

his most defiant tone yet saying on social media you will burn their hearts we will make

the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions. The brave soldiers

and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international

oppressors. With that he became Iran's de facto leader and he continued to vow defiance.

Recently rejecting media reports that he wanted new talks with the US and issuing a statement just

yesterday calling on Muslims around the world to support Iran. And also defending Iran's attacks

on Gulf States and the accused of hosting American bases and Israeli interests. But also while he

ramped up the rhetoric it appeared he also didn't stop being a pragmatist. With him for example

reportedly opposing the appointment of the deceased supreme leader's son as his replacement.

Instead lobbying for a more moderate option as a way of showing the public and the international

community that Iran was changing direction. To have experts arguing that his death it's just

going to embolden hardliners and enable security forces to tighten their grip with one telling

the times. Now that it seems everything is in the hands of the military elite it's very difficult

to imagine how and if they can come up with some ideas or if they can show enough flexibility to

accept the ideas of the other side to end the war and adding. The process of elite betting every

layer that you remove the next layer is going to be more hardline. And that also tracks with what

US intelligence assessments have reportedly been saying even before La Rijani's assassination.

Which is that the regime is consolidating power and will likely remain in place for the time being

weaker but more hardline with a revolutionary guard exerting greater control. And according to

reports security forces have been cracking down on dissent despite the war resting people suspected

of collaborating with foreign powers and threatening would be protesters with death to

fend off any potential uprising. And then you also have experts arguing that the hardliners now

with even more influence they may be even more eager than ever to develop a nuclear weapon. The

key point being that Iran is still hanging on to a believe 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium

although whether it can currently access that material and whether they'd be able to convert it

into a bomb that's still not known right now. Then notably with all that Trump was reportedly

told about the likelihood of a more entrenched revolutionary guard before he gave the go-ahead

to jointly launch the war with Israel. And you would one person familiar with the assessment

telling the Washington Post it wasn't just predictable it was predicted he was told in advance

which are also reportedly warned that attacking Iran could trigger retaliation against American

allies in the Gulf. But still yesterday you had him claiming that this came as a surprise.

They hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shot. They fought

back. Trump also seemingly acknowledged yesterday that the US and Israel's own attacks on Iranian

leadership were making the chances of a negotiated end to this war even slimmer. We don't even know

their leaders. We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are. But then also with

everything here Israel doesn't appear to be slowing down on its efforts to take out top leaders

of the regime. Or with Netanyahu again suggesting that this is aimed at toppling the government

once and for all saying we are undermining this regime and the hope of giving the Iranian people

an opportunity to remove it. Although you also had him conceding this will not happen all at once

and it will not happen easily. And with that you would have military spokesperson saying that

Israel's goal was maximum accomplishments in a minimum time frame and adding that it was ready

to operate as long as needed. Do you have yet another sign that Israel is ready to just kind of keep

this up for as long as it takes? So that's also as there's a question of will Trump remain

on board as well. Because he's gone back and forth between claiming an end of the war is really

close and suggesting that it could last much longer. Although you have some saying that he's

really not the one calling the shots anymore and some saying that Israel is really the one at the

wheel. And that apparently includes Joe Khan who's one of the country's top counterterrorism officials

who announced his resignation today writing on social media. I cannot in good conscience support

the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation and it is clear that we started

this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. But also with that whatever

role Israel played in starting this war ending it, it's also going to depend on Iran. With even

people close to Trump reportedly concerned that Iran's attacks on oil tankers in the straight

of Hormuz, it might be forcing him into a situation where escalating the conflict maybe by putting

American boots on the ground might be seen by him as the only way to credibly claim victory.

Or with one person described as being close to the White House telling Politico,

we clearly just kicked Iran's ass in the field but to a large extent they hold the cards now.

They decide how long we're involved and they decide if we put boots on the ground. And it

doesn't seem to me that there's a way around it if we want to save face. And that may be especially

the case is Trump's latest idea for securing the straight doesn't seem to be working out so well.

Or as we talked about yesterday when I was stuck in that hotel room, Trump has asked NATO members

and other countries to help unblock the straight of Hormuz but their response has been we'll call it

less than enthusiastic. So you've since said Trump suggesting that his requests for help in

reopening the straight of Hormuz, it was actually a loyalty test with him claiming. I'm almost

doing it in some cases not because we need them but because I want to find out how they react.

Though at the same time he claimed that numerous countries have told him that they're on the way.

But then when asked to name them he responded, I'd rather not say yet but we'll be announcing them.

And today he again suggested that this was a great test for NATO warning that the United

States would remember its inaction. Right and Trump adding on social media that because of the fact

that we have had such military success we no longer need or desire the NATO countries' assistance.

But we then immediately contradicted himself by saying that it's not just that the US no longer

needs their help but that it never did. And then he also had Trump telling reporters that he wasn't

worried that putting American troops on the ground in Iran could turn into another Vietnam war.

Saying, I'm really not afraid of that. I'm really not afraid of anything. While the

scenario it might seem unlikely given the more limited ground options currently being considered,

crossing that line it would likely prolong the war and put troops to greater risk.

Which obviously is a big thing to consider because as of now 13 American service members have died

since the start of the war according to the Pentagon. And that's as a number of troops have been

wounded or injured. And ultimately how much that number continues to go up, it may be determined

by decisions that Donald Trump makes over the coming days and weeks. And actually while we wait

to see what happens there, he's already talking about the next government that he wants to topple.

Whereas Trump's threatening to take aim at Cuba as they experience yet another nationwide blackout

that's left over 10 million struggling and it sparked fiery protests across the island.

I do believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking Cuba to be good on. That's a big honor.

Taking Cuba. Taking Cuba in some form. Yeah, taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it,

take I could do anything I want with it. You want another to them a very weekend nation right now.

It's just as latest threat of Ford intervention and it comes as reports say that Cuba reported a

total disconnection of the country's national electric system yesterday. But some residents saying

like this blackout didn't even surprise them as they're getting used to living without power while

others they're left scrambling to find alternatives to maintain basic needs like food. And as

reports describe this as a looming humanitarian crisis, the US has continued to keep Cuba cut off

from Venezuela's oil and has maintained the threat despite tariffs for any country that offers help.

And with that, you have readers saying that Cuba has received only two small oil vessels this year.

The first one came into the Havana port back in January from Mexico, who is a regular oil supplier for Cuba

before Trump's terror threats. Also, Mexican citizens have helped with food relief for Cuba,

but they also know that with the US's pressure on the island, it's still not enough.

Mexico is showing its solidarity, but we must not fool ourselves. It's a symbolic act and

doesn't help the real problem on the island. And it's long-term solution.

In an addition of Mexico, the next vessel came in February from Jamaica with liquefied petroleum

gas known as cooking gas, but that's also been it. And that's as the United States has held a

65-year embargo on Cuba, effectively bleeding Cuba dry as Trump stands against their leadership.

And so with all these factors at play, Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canal saying that

they haven't seen a drop of fuel for their already dated power grid in three months.

So as millions of Cuban citizens have continued to struggle through this, rare protests have erupted,

and videos of spread showing people attacking the Communist Party headquarters directly.

Ray reports saying that every night for 10 days, they have gone out to protest in a different

area of the country because of the blackouts, saying this is the first time they protested so

many consecutive days in a row. And as these protests have raged on, President Diaz Canal said last

week that he was in talks with the US, aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the

bilateral differences between the two nations. But we're also still not sure if Trump's actually

on the same page. Cuba is a disaster, but I've been hearing so much about Cuba, but Cuba is

in its last moments of life as it was. It'll have a great new life, but it's in its last moments

of life the way it is. Also with this White House official told the Washington Post as the President

has stated, we are talking to Cuba whose leaders should make a deal, which he believes would be very

easily made. And that in Cuba is a failing nation whose ruler has had a major setback with the

loss of support from Venezuela and with Mexico ceasing to send them oil. And also like this pressure

on Cuba, it's something that we all saw coming from a mile away after he started dropping hands

that their government may face the same fate as Venezuela's. Cuba's at the end of the line,

they're very much at the end of the line, they have no money, they have no oil, they have a bed,

philosophy, they have a bed regime. And since then, he's also said that he'll be turning his

attention to Cuba after the war in Iran's over. And as Trump closes in, Cuban officials haven't

been quiet about the strain that they're under, even reportedly offering to allow Cuban nationals

outside of the country to participate in the country's economic and social development. Or with

Cuba's Deputy Prime Minister and economics are reportedly saying, Cuban nationals outside the

country would be permitted to invest in the country's small private sector and own businesses on the

island. Which that alone is news, right? Because the communist regimes don't usually take kindly to

those who escape. The Cuban communist leadership, they've often referred to those who fled during the

revolution as scum and slur-meaning maggots. So with all that, right? The Deputy Prime Minister's

offer, it might be too little too late. Many Cubans outside of the island, they rejected it.

For you groups like the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a Miami-based group of Cuban exiles saying,

the regime must be truly desperate to seek resources from the very people they once branded as

scum and forced into exile. We know this administration despises free Cubans who refuse to be controlled

by the Communist Party. And adding, it is vital to withhold investment now and wait for a truly

free Cuba. You also have other U.S. residents in places with high Cuban populations speaking out

against the Cuban government as well. Also in Kansas City, which is roughly 2000 Cuban residents,

people with family still on the island, they organized support and prayer gatherings for those

suffering through the outages. And so overall, the sense of being a pretty sticky situation.

On the one hand, you seemingly have a desperate one-party communist government structure in Cuba

that's trying to make amends with people that they've ousted for so many years, while

also still arresting those who were speaking out on the island. And then on the other hand,

you have our president who seems to be kind of a glutton for foreign intervention going into

other countries and stomping out whatever leaders he doesn't agree with while driving Americans

closer to a fascist regime every day. And so as per usual, it looks like it's the people who

get the short end of the stick, because neither government seems to be operating in their interest.

And while with the power, you know, there have been small pockets of Cuba where power has been

restored, the power crisis, it is still very much president, and it seems only to be an occupational

hazard for the leaders at play here. And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute,

but first let's take a quick break and thank a sponsor. You know, I think we can all agree that

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that QR code to get 10 free meals plus a free Zwilling knife on your third box. But then diving right

back into the news, a war reporter in Israel got death threats because gamblers on polymarket had

millions of dollars riding on whether an Iranian missile was intercepted or not. Are they

one of them to change his reporting? And when he refused, they tracked down where he lives,

they named his family members and gave him a countdown to comply. And this is one of those

stories that it sounds fake until you see the receipts. So diving into the specifics,

Emmanuel Mani Fabian, he's a 28 year old war correspondent for the Times of Israel. And a

March 10th and Iranian ballistic missile hit just outside of a suburb of Jerusalem. Emergency

services found that it landed in a forest about 500 meters away from many homes. Nobody was killed,

nobody was hurt. And you had Mani putting out a routine live blog post saying exactly that.

And also sharing video footage of the explosion from the warhead. It was this minor update in the

middle of a war. And then the messages started. First, you had an email in Hebrew asking him to

correct his post to say it wasn't a missile that made contact, but rather an interceptor fragment.

So you had Mani pushing back, noting that the Israeli military had confirmed that it was a

missile warhead and at the footage showed an explosion from hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

Saying normally a fragment does not produce such an explosion. And then the next day, there was

another email, same argument, different persons, same request, change the report. Saying if you

could correct this tonight, you would be doing me and many others a great favor. And then,

they moved over to Twitter with users jumping into his replies, asking him to confirm the

missile was intercepted. And again, this is after he had already shared video of the warhead

exploding on contact. And so Mani, he started digging and the people that were pressing him were

all connected to Polymarket. And for those who haven't followed Polymarket, it's this prediction

market where users bet on the outcome of news events, elections, sports, press conferences,

active war zones, you name it, it's probably there. Billions of dollars in weekly trading and

technically at bars, US users, but there are US users. And the specific bet at the center of this

was titled Iran Strikes Israel on question mark. With more than $16 million being waged on March

10th, and the rule said that the market resolves yes, if quote, Iran initiates a strike on Israeli

soil on that date, but missiles or drones that are intercepted will not be sufficient for a yes

resolution. And so Mani's reporting that the missile hit the ground wasn't intercepted, it made

contact him and that people who bet no were about to lose big. And so they apparently decided

that that was his problem to fix. And so with all this, you had Mani posting on Twitter, my message

to you gamblers is simple. Fuck off, stop harassing me and find a better hobby than falsifying

journalistic reports for financial gain. But that it really didn't stop any of it. A colleague from

another publication reached out, a friend of his was asking him to convince Mani to change the

article called it a negligible update with a more favorable outlook. And when the colleague confronted

that friend, the friend confirmed that it was about polymarket bets. He even offered the colleague

a cut of the winnings he got Mani to change the report. And then it goes from ridiculous to

terrifying right after Mani still refused someone reached out on WhatsApp. First in Hebrew,

then switching to English saying you have no idea how much you put yourself at risk, saying

today is the most significant day of your career, you have two choices. I believe that we have

the capabilities and after you make us lose $900,000, we will invest no less than that to finish you

or end this with money in your pocket and also earn back the life that you had until now.

And when Mani didn't respond, the person started listing details about his home, his

neighborhood, his parents, and his sibling. Saying it took them less than five minutes to find out

exactly where you live, how often you see your lovely parents and exactly who your brothers and

sisters are. And then there was a countdown, right? There would be a fatal mistake if he didn't

respond in 10 minutes. And then when he still didn't respond, they said, you have 90 minutes left

to update the law. If you decide not to correct it, you will discover enemies will be willing to

pay anything to make your life miserable. And saying as far as I know, there are also some people

who don't really care about the law and you're about to make them lose about 50 times what you'll

ever make. 86 minutes left, you were the only one responsible for your life. Mani actually told

the Washington Post that he almost gave in saying, I thought, do I just change it because it doesn't

really matter. But then I thought, if I do this now, they're going to come back to me again and

ask for other things to be changed. They would have probably never stopped doing that if they knew

that they could make money this way. So instead, he filed a police report and he published the whole

story. Every message, every threat, hoping that the publicity would deter better is from targeting

other journalists in the future. But even he admits that that's unlikely. And it's even more

unlikely that every journalist who gets this kind of pressure is going to have the same response.

Now, as far as polymarket, they condemn the threat saying that they violate the terms of service

and have no place on the platform and adding, prediction markets depend on the integrity of

independent reporting, attempts to pressure journalists to alter their reporting, undermine that

integrity and undermine the markets themselves, and claiming that the accounts involved were banned

and their information was passed to the authorities. But then also, you know, one of the bigger

questions is whether prediction market should be allowed to operate on war events at all. And

with that, you have Senator Chris Murphy and Greg Kassar, they're introducing the Betz Off Act,

or the banning event trading on sensitive operations and federal functions act. With Murphy's

office anger, the bill would put a stop to these corrupt wagers crack down on prediction markets

that flout the law with offshore platforms and reject the idea that we should commodify every part

of our lives. The really, whether it has a shot to pass, it depends on what happens with the midterms.

Whether the Democrats can get any power back and also what kind of Democrats wind up elected.

You know, just adding my opinion here, none of this, if you've been watching the show at the

very least, none of this should be surprising. Right, there are a lot of people participating,

because it's out there, and you know, if no one's going to do anything, some people are like,

well, I might as well take part, but this is something that's going to happen when you let people

bet millions of dollars on war. The truth, it becomes a liability, just another thing to be changed.

Accurate reporting, it becomes a financial threat to people with resources and motivation to make

that threat very personal. And the only thing without regulation that's standing between the integrity

of the information and a payout is whether one reporter decides to hold the line. And while many

appears to have held the line here, the next reporter might not. But then also, I'm a note of

the elections and the midterms and the politicians, we got to talk about what's going down in Illinois

right now, or because Dick Durban's retiring from the Senate and five more Democrats are retiring

from the House, and so buying for that Senate seat are three Democrats. The current state

lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton. I'm Juliana Stratton, and I'm proud to have lived my whole

life on the south side of Chicago. Representative Raja Krishna Morthy. My opponents can call me whatever

they want. You can just call me Raja. And Representative Robin Kelly. I'm Robin Kelly,

daughter of a grocer and a postal worker. The poll is opening up today, and so by tomorrow,

if not tonight, we should know who the winner is. Right, the Senate seat in question is safely

blue, so it is presumed that whoever wins this primary, they're going to win the general as well.

But also with this, you have people watching it closely to see if it signals anything about the

trajectory of the Democratic Party more broadly. Namely, whether how much wealthy donors influence

the outcome. Because on one side, cryptocurrency interests have thrown millions of dollars behind

Krishna Morthy, leading to fear is that he would be beholden to the industry. Then on the other

side, Illinois governor JB Pritzker, who's a billionaire, has thrown millions of his own dollars

behind Stratton, leading to accusations that he's tipping the scales. And although out,

Kelly is trailing well behind both of her competitors who are neck and neck. Right, and they also

reflect differences within the party about the correct stand to take on ice and immigration. Stratton

jumped fully on board. The abolished ice movement, Krishna Morthy, is proposed to abolish Trump's

ice. And Kelly wants to dismantle ice in the Department of Homeland Security broadly. And then

at the same time, in the house primaries, there's a lot of money floating around from crypto, AI,

and dark money groups, as well as another big issue is Israel. Or because the American,

Israel Public Affairs Committee, or APAC, they have poured over $20 million into several races,

reportedly using shell packs rather than its main super pack to hide where the money is coming from.

And interestingly, its ads made sure to focus on anything but Israel, likely because pulling

is shown that support among Democrats is declining. So we're going to have to wait to see if

their efforts there were, because last month, they tried the same thing in New Jersey, and it

backfired spectacularly. Or with APAC there, attacking a pro-Israel moderate who didn't support

unconditional aid to Israel, but then in doing so, they accidentally handed the race to a progressive

who's accused Israel of genocide. It's now an Illinois APAC started doing something similar.

It's acting Daniel Biss, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor who is criticized Israel in favor of

their preferred candidate, Laura Fine. But that also appears to have maybe created an opening for

Palestinian-American progressive, Kat Abuguzale, to gain some ground. And so seemingly,

in fearing a repeat of New Jersey, APAC pivoted in the final stretch of the race,

refocusing its attacks on Abuguzale directly. And then, as we're waiting to see the results there,

we're also seeing things heat up in the Senate primary in Maine. Or because Democrats,

they believe that they can mount a challenge to the state's Republican Senator, Susan Collins,

who's held her seat for nearly three decades now. And once she won her last re-election bid in 2020

by 8.6 points, Trump lost Maine that year by nine points as well as 2024 by seven points.

To the dams, they don't have many soft targets to pick from. In the first place, they might be able

to flip Collins's seat. But of course, there's a big debate around who is the best candidate to pull

that off. And so on one side, you've got Maine's moderate-sitting governor, Janet Mills.

Fight back, Janet. I won't sit idly by while Maine people suffer. And politicians like Susan Collins

bend to knee as if this were normal. My life's work has prepared me for this fight. And I'm ready to win.

This election will be a simple choice. Is Maine going to bow down or stand up? I know my answer.

And then on the other side, there's the progressive challenger, Graham Platner,

and oyster farmer, military veteran, and former private military contractor.

Why are groceries so expensive? Why are we still spending billions of taxpayer dollars to fund

other countries' wars? Why are electricity bills going up? Why are billionaires in corporations

running DC? And I'm Graham Platner, and I approve this message because we deserve a government that

takes down the oligarchy, not democracy. She is 78 years old. He's 41. She's won statewide races

before. He's never held office. She's an establishment insider. He's a populist outsider.

She's got the endorsement of Chuck Schumer. He's got support from Bernie Sanders.

In the race, it's tight, though. I will say some holes have shown Platner in the lead,

and he's raised much more money than Mills. But Platner also has a background that he's been

trying to overcome. And now, in the first attack out of the race, we've seen Mills pouncing on that.

Did you know Graham Platner wrote that women worried about rape need to quote?

Now get so f***** up. They wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to.

Disgusting. Platner wrote to avoid rape. Women should quote.

Act like an adult for f***** sake. Graham Platner, seriously.

We blame the victim. That's a horrible thing to say. Just qualify.

I have not seen this. He's a bully. This guy gives off a vibe.

Just no way. I could vote for you. No. Graham Platner, the closer you look, the worse it gets.

What's being referenced there are a handful of Reddit posts that Platner made around 2013 that are

not great. They're saying that women concerned about rape should not get so f***** up.

They wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to and should act like an adult for f***** sake.

As well as appearing to say in today's current climate, when every whisper of a misplaced hand

brings down a feature playing film, anyone who actually thinks the military is purposefully

covering up rape to save the career of some god damn captain is clearly both an idiot and

junior enough in rank or life experience to think it matters. Right and then another post he

asked why don't black people tip. Then around 2018, 2020, more posts appear to show I'm calling

himself a communist referring to cops as bastards and agreeing that rural white people are racist

and stupid, which then many found to be a bit ironic not only because he himself is a white

oyster farmer, but also because it was revealed that he had a tattoo resembling that Nazi deaths

had on his chest. Now there in his defense he claims that he got the ink in 2007 during a drunk

a night out in Croatia with a few fellow machine gunners and saying that he picked the image at

random from options displayed on the wall of the tattoo parlor. With him also since covering it up

and he blames his older posts on his depression and PTSD after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The infantry was a very male dominated place, but when I got out I still had the crude humor,

the dark, dark feelings, the offensive language that really was a hallmark, hallmark of the

infantry when I was in it. I made comments that I'm not happy about that I do not agree with,

but they came from a time and place in my life. And so for those of you who have read these things

and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don't recognize, I am deeply sorry.

The widow that mills, I mean she's doing everything she can to make that scandal stick and we should

also expect to see similar attack ads leading up to June's primer. And at that point, it's up to

Maine's Democratic voters, right? Some are going to forgive his past like one local business owner who

put it to vanity fair, saying I'm a voter who wants to not fund genocide and to have universal

healthcare. That matter is more to me than some old reddit posts in a tattoo. And right now,

at least according to the polling, it looks like more people are leaning that way. It's a tight race

and anything could happen, but it does seem like there are a lot of people who just want new leaders.

But for now while we wait to see what happens, I'd love to know your thoughts on what's happening

in Illinois and in Maine, especially if you live there and you could take part in those elections.

And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute, but first let me thank a sponsor

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only on Paramount Plus. Then, diving right back into the news, there is another

mag-a-war that's dropping and this one is about whether a Nazi salute should be considered

free speech. Because the University of Florida College Republican chapter just sued the school

after being shut down over photos of members doing the salute and group chat messages saying

Hitler didn't do enough. And it's all happening less than two weeks after a completely separate

Florida college had its own conservative group chat sleeve. Or with those containing the

N word over 400 times, there were violent threats against black people and a chat was renamed

after a mythical white civilization promoted by Nazi leaders. But, regarding the U.F. situation,

late last week, you had an activist posting a photo on social media showing two people doing

a Nazi salute, claiming that one of them was a leader of the U.F. College Republicans.

And then on Saturday, the National Federation of College Republicans were at the NFCR.

They shared that photo along with screenshots from a campus group chat where one person said

Hitler didn't do enough at another joke about beating up women. But the guy who made the Hitler

comment told reporters that he was just joking, that he wasn't being anti-Semitic. He also claimed

that he was never part of the U.F. College Republicans, even though he appeared to confirm being in

their group chat. And with all this, you had the NFCR saying it had actually revoked the chapters

chartered the previous month over these incidents and was working with the University to formalize

the decision. Which is notable because it suggests that the school may have known about all this

before it blew up online. All while the University of Florida, which turns out to have the highest

percentage of Jewish students of any public college in the country, announced that it would deactivate

the chapter in compliance with university policies, but also help reactivate it under new leadership.

And under the decision that group could lose access to campus spaces and funding until they reinstated.

But the U.F. College Republicans, they didn't go quietly. Are they posted a statement claiming

that the Florida branch of the National Federation didn't have any authority over their chapter,

because they're actually a part of a different student Republican organization. And they accused

the Federation of lying to quote, silence Christian conservative groups on campus and

implied that they were targeted for hosting an event with a far-right gubernatorial candidate

who's caused a rift among Florida Republicans. But then the NFCR, they pushed back,

writing on Twitter, multiple emails and texts refute this claim. The chapters certainly had no

issue identifying itself as an NFCR chapter when it was time to request boxes or speakers.

And then yesterday, the chapter filed a lawsuit against the University alleging that it violated

its first amendment rights by punishing protected off-campus speech, with a suit asking the federal

judge to declare the University's actions on constitutional reactivate the group and award

damages and legal fees. In their lawyer, Anthony Sabatini, accused the University of punishing

the group for being part of the new ride or hard ride in alleged the state Republican Party

targeted the chapter for promoting an aggressive America-first agenda, which then had some saying

that it sounds like they're doing the quiet part out loud, saying that they want to openly

argue that Nazi salutes are protected speech, that's part of the mega agenda. And again,

all this is happening less than two weeks after a completely different Florida school blew up

over leaked group chats that were somehow even worse. According to the Miami Herald,

the chat was created for conservative students at Florida International University by the

Secretary of Miami-Dade County's Republican Party, who is himself a student at the school,

with a group including top conservative student leaders, including the now-former TPUSA chapter

president and college Republicans recruitment chair. And within three weeks, the chat was full of

racist slurs and active threats of violence. One person writing about dozens of ways to violently

kill black people. People also amused about Hitler's policies, and at one point, the chat was

renamed to honor a mythical civilization promoted by Nazi leaders, which actually the college

Republicans recruitment chair called Nazi Heaven. Additionally, the N-word was used more than 400

times. Women were regularly called whores, slurs against Jewish and gay people. They were

constant. And so with all this, if I you launched a criminal investigation on the TPUSA and

college Republicans leaders, both stepped down. But also, the actual government official, right,

the Miami-Dade County Republican Party Secretary who created the chat, he has refused to resign,

despite calls from Republican leaders, right? He claims that he didn't see much of the content

until the Harold contacted him and said that he was shocked by some of the comments in the group

chat that he created. But also, the thing is like, there's a pattern here, right? This isn't really

even new. Last fall, Politico exposed a telegram group chat between high-ranking leaders of young

Republican organizations across the country. And there, you had more than 2700 pages of messages,

full of racist, anti-Semitic, and violent rhetoric. Like, you don't have to dig to find this

stuff anymore. It's in private group chats, politically active young conservatives who want to be

the future leaders of the party. It's on what's left of Twitter. Top voices in MAGA and the far

right, they use and encourage this language publicly. You know, as far as why this matters,

I think it's important to know that there are two things kind of happening here at the same time.

The first is that this kind of rhetoric, Nazi salutes, Hitler praise, violent racism, slurs,

casual conversation, it keeps showing up in places where young conservative leaders are organizing.

It is not on the fringes. It is in the leadership pipelines. It is in the group chats between

chapter presidents and county party officials. This is in a couple of bad apples and a bushel or,

you know, the few poise and M&Ms in the bowl. But then the second thing is when anyone tries to

hold them accountable and that includes their own party. There's been a shift, right? This is no

longer like, oh, well, this is taken out of context or we condemn this behavior as far as like

generally. It's instead the argument that Nazi salutes are protected speech and punishing us for

that is on America. And you seemingly have this layer who's framing it as part of the America

first agenda. So for the people out there that think after Trump like, there might be some big

magic return to normalcy. Seemingly, at least a decent chunk of the movement. It's headed

this other way. And on that happy note, that brings us to the end of today's Tuesday Philip

DeFranco Show dive into the news. Thank you for watching. I love you faces and I'll see you right

back here tomorrow.